Musical instrument key busher



y 1931. T. J. MALCOLM 1,813,751

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT KEY BUSHER Filed Jan. 24, 1930 INVENTOR ATTORNEY WITNESISES W14 Patented July 7, 1931 PATENT OFFICE THOMAS J. MALCOLM, OF NATCHEZ, MISSISSIPPI MUSICAL INSTRUMENT KEY BUSHER Application filed January 24, 1930. Serial No. 423,143.

This invention relates to improvements in musical instrument keys and it consists of the constructions, combinations and arrangements herein described and claimed.

An object of the invention is to provide what is herein known as a busher which serves the purpose of holding the felt padding at each side of the guide pin that in turn keeps the key from rattling, two of the outstanding. advantages of the improvement being that the gluing and temporary wedging of the padding is avoided in making a new key and that the necessary building up of a damaged wall is made unnecessary in repairing an old key.

Another object of the invention is to so combine the felt padding with compressible means to constitute a busher that the repair man has only to insert in the guide pin hole when it will stay in place of its own accord without any other operation.

Another object of the invention is to establish the combination of an instrument key and a compressible bushel.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a cross section of enough of the piano to illustrate the association of the improved busher with one of the keys and its guide pin.

Figure 2 is a plan view of several piano keys, one of these being particularly shown in section to illustrate the location of the improved busher. V

Figure 3 is a cross section taken on the line 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the improved busher.

Figure 5 is a detail sectional view illustrating how the improved busher levels the worn wall of a used key without having to first build up the worn place before inserting new felt padding. 7

A key 1, which for the purpose of this de scription is regarded as of a piano, is pivoted upon a pin 2 and hasa hole 3 at the front end on the underside and on the longitudinal center to receive a guide pin 4:. The guide pins are for the purpose of keeping the keys 1 (Fig. 2) properly spaced apart in order to avoid their rattling together during the act of playing.

In order to further prevent rattling, as by a contact of the guide pin 4 with the side walls 1 of the hole 3, these side walls are customaril padded with felt which is held in place with glue. In order to hold the felt paddings while the glue is setting it is the practice to insert wedges, and bearing in mind that'a large number of keys must be treated in the manner described it is easy to understand that considerable time is consumed in the original padding of the guide holes 3.

After a period of use of the piano the guide pins 4 of the keys, especially in the bass and treble clefs will not only wear through the felt padding but will cut grooves such as 5' in Figure 5 in one of the side walls of the respective guide hole 3; This one-sided wearing is due to the strokes upon the keys by the fingers of the player at rather sharp angles toward the left and right sides of the piano so that practically all of the wear is imposed on one of the'felt pads and adj oining'side wall of the hole 3.

This wearing of the padding and wall of the guide hole produces a looseness which again permits rattling of the keys together and makes necessary the re-bushing of the holes 3 if the rattling is to be overcome. The practice is to dig out the old felt and glue new pieces in place. But before this can be done on'the sides that have been scored or grooved as at 5 (Fig. 5) it is necessary to build up the groove with wood or some substitute for it so that the respective felt padding can be glued to a level base.

All this consumes a great deal of time, especially the building up of the groove 5, and it is the purpose of the invention to facilitate the original bushing of the hole 31 in new piano keys, as well as the re-bushin'g thereof in worn piano keys. To this end a device 6 (Fig, 4), herein known as the busher is equipped with padding 7' of felt such as is customarily used in some parts of a piano.

The busher 6 comprises a body 8 which consists of. a strip of suitable material bent into a substantial V-shape. While there is a rather wide choice of materials from which the body 8 may be made, yet by preference it consists of a strip of spring metal. The busher thus comprises compressible means by which the felt padding 7 is carried and by which the latter is automatically held in position when inserted in the hole 3.

' Clips 9 are applied to the outside of the body 8 (Fig. 4) and have their ends bent over the adjoining edges of the body and the felt padding to hold the felt pieces in confronting positions at the extremities of the body. These clips have the advantage of adding sufficient roughness to the outside of the body 8 to aid the factors of friction and expansion in maintaining the body in position in the hole.

It is conceivable that the clamping means which the clips 9 comprise, may merely consist of small lugs or-ears struck from the side edges of the body and bent over the felt padding 7 precisely on the order of the ends of the clips 9. This variation is so easily understood that specific illustration is regarded unnecessary. In any case it would be the purpose to grip the felt padding 7 at the side edges, leaving the upright central portions unobstructed for a free passage over the sides of the guide pin 4 in the operation of the key.

In outlining the advantages of the improved busher it will be observed at once that glue is never used at any time for the purpose of'holding the felt padding in place. In the original construction of the piano key 1 the operator has only to compress the free ends of the busher 6 (Fig. 4) together and insert the closed end of the body into the hole 3 so that the busher assumes the position shown in any of the three instances in Figure 3.

The frictional bearing of the body 8 against the sides of the hole, as well as the inherent resiliency of the body, will hold the busher in place, although this function will be greatly assisted in instances where the clips 9 appear on the outside of the body, affording a roughness that will insure against any tendency whatever of the busher slipping out. The busher thus serves the additional purpose of a reinforced side wall for the hole 3, and even should the guide pin 4 wear one of the felt pads through, the wearing will stop at the body of the'busher andwill not continue into the wooden wall of the key.

In instances of re-bushing a Worn key (Fig. 5) the operator has only to dig out the old felt padding and insert the improved busher 6 by compressing the free ends as before. The body 8 levels the side walls of the hole 3 and makes it unnecessary for the operator to build up the worn groove 5. Again, no glue is required to hold the busher firmly in place.

While on the subject of glue it may not be amiss to point out that according to the prevailing construction it often happens that glue will seep through the felt padding in damp weather and cause the key to stick to the guide pin 4 and stay down. Later when the weather becomes dry the glue that has thus seeped through will also dry and become as hard as the wood. This defect is as bad as either a worn key or an unpadded key because the hard glue will rattle against the guide pin.

With the foregoing statements in mind it is easy to see that a great portion of the time and labor customarily required in bushing new keys and re-bushing worn keys will be saved by the use of the improved busher 6. WVhile it is true that a re-bushing .jobas known heretofore can be properly accomplished only by a skilled operator it is equally true that a re-bushing job can now be done by use of the improved busher by'even the most inexperienced operator. All that has to be done is to pry out the old felt, compress the busher 6 and insert it in the hole 3.

While the construction and arrangement of the improved busher are those of a generallypreferred form, obviously modifica tions and changes may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims. 1

I claim V 1. The combination of a musical instrument key, guide means by which the key is guided in its movements, and a compressible busher applied to the key and retained there by its expansion, being slidable against the guiding means during said movements.

2. The combination of a musical instrument key having a guide hole, guide means movements, and a compressible busher carrying felt padding, being insertible in the hole and expansible against the walls thereof so that the padding bears against the guide means during the movements of the cey.

8. The combination of a musical instrument key having a guide hole, guide means received by the hole to guide the key in its movements, and a resilient padded busher insertible and retained in the hole by its expansion to bear against the guide means.

4. The combination of a musical instrument key having a guide hole, guide means to fit in the hole, a compressible busher insertible in the hole having a padding to bear against the guide means, and means holding the padding on the busher presenting transverse roughness to assist in holding the busher in the hole.

5. The combination of a musical instrument key having a hole, guide means fitting in the hole, paddings contacting the opposite sides of the guide means, and a resilient body carrying the paddings being insertible in the hole to produce reinforced side walls.

6. A busher comprising a resilient body, and a pad carried by the body.

7. A busher comprising a resilient body, and pads carried thereby in confronting positions.

8. A busher comprising a resilient body of substantial V-form, and pads carried by the extremities of the body in confronting positions.

9. A busher comprising a resilient body, a pad, and means by which the pad is secured to the body at opposite edges leaving the middle of the pad unobstructed.

10. A busher comprising a strip of spring material bent into substantial V-form, a pad applied to each extremity of the strip in con fronting positions, and clips on the outside of the strip having the ends bent over the opposite edges of the strip and pad leaving the middle portions of the pad unobstructed.

THOMAS J. MALCOLM. 

